Updated 12th July 2024
Stage 1.
Get a quote, the Lychgate has a Grade 2 listing.
Stage 2. Start the prep work.
Sandblast to see whats under all that paint.
The result is that its going to need a bit more than just some paint.
Stage 3.
Its going to need all new roof timbers, new gutters, brackets & down pipes.
Bob the church warden is going grayer by the minute and the church treasure Lesley has started looking horrified at the size of the quotes coming in.
The joiner Gary might be regretting answering the phone the day we asked him to quote.
“It will all be fine in the end”………. 😀
Stage 4.
So on Monday 5th August we did not know whether to laugh or cry, yes the roof had to come off and be totally rebuilt including some of the supporting beams.
Tuesday the joiner had a phone call from the decorator asking where are the timbers for the roof that he had painted, “there in me log burner” came the reply……..
Wednesday the new roof sheets went back on, but the question was “had Joe the apprentice finally remembered his sandwiches……..?
Thursday and Friday where taken up with re-tiling the roof. if you like jigsaws then this would have been the job for you.
Still more wood work needs to be done plus ridge tiles, then the decorator and finally the new guttering and down pipes.
Possibly complete by the end of August, possible…..?
Stage 5.
The joiners have finished their bit and done all the fine finishing stuff and now its down to the painters and decorators to do their work, between the rain storms that is.
Stage 6.
Update 6-9-2023
Now the painters are making the the gates look good again. There are as ever with a job like this more bits to finish. Adrian the decorator from Sylk Decorating has developed a nervous reaction to seeing my name come up on his phone. He has found a way to costumes the finishing on the two new post in a special texture so as to sympathetically preserver the finish to blend in with the four original post. This along as we stop cutting bits of that he has already painted.
The attention to detail has been fantastic by all the firm concerned with the restoration of the Lychgate. we at St Thomas’s are very pleased so far.
I have been told by Linda to reassure, “Colin” that the gutters and the down pipes have been ordered and the installation has been booked and will happen in the next two weeks. “don’t worry”.
As you have seen touching any job like this has been “a bit of a journey” to say the least. These jobs always are.
The church warden Bob has left the country.
The church treasurer has shut her email and phone systems down.
The other church warden Linda has just stared laughing and giggling every time the gates are mentioned.
As for the new Vicar Simon, I suspect he’s just thinking ……….!?!?
Be assured, It will all be fine, it will all be grand in the end.🤔😀🙏
Update July 2024
And finally, finally after 5 months of manufacturing issues and getting the right materials, brakets, paint finish and junction pipe fittings the Lychgates are finished……!!!!!!!!
The new guttering has been installed, so stop worrying Colin all’s well in the end.
